Delegation on Fact-Finding Mission in Republic of Congo to Establish Risk Management System
A delegation of two representatives of UNU-ViE/UFS-DiMTEC (University of the Free State - Disaster Risk Management Training and Education Centre for Africa) visited Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, to meet with senior government officials and politicians from 8 to 15 August 2009. The delegation gathered information for the establishment of a disaster risk management centre in Brazzaville.
Representatives were Ms. Jessica Johmann, Head of Executive Office of UNU-ViE and the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and IDEAS programme coordinator, and Prof. Andries Jordaan, Director of DiMTEC. They attended several meetings with high-level executives in Brazzaville and also carried out field visits to major vulnerable sites in the area.
Vulnerable Population
Environmental risks such as sedimentation, floods, storms, erosion, mud-slides or anarchic occupation are observable in various parts of Brazzaville making the land unsafe for its inhabitants. Despite of the population being vulnerable to these risks there is currently no infrastructure in the city that specifically deals with environmental and societal problems, which are slowly deteriorating the state of the land.
This is why UNU in Bonn is working closely with the government of Congo Brazzaville and the UFS-DiMTEC to establish a new centre for disaster risk management and prevention in its capital. This is being implemented by doing field studies and meeting with main actors at all levels – governmental, local, and non-governmental - that play a key role in this project. The aim is to foster a constructive dialogue. Since its inception almost one year ago, the project has accomplished outstanding progress.
The visit followed the agreement made last June which stipulates that a team of representatives of both institutes - UNU-ViE and DiMTEC - would undertake a principal mission to Congo Brazzaville for field analysis and face-to-face meetings with various ministries, relevant institutions and national agencies as well as with the Mayor of the City of Brazzaville.
Integrated Disaster Risk Management
The ultimate goal of the fact-finding mission was to establish an integrated disaster risk management and prevention system in Brazzaville that includes the creation of a disaster risk management centre. Establishing a disaster management centre is only a means to the objective of disaster risk reduction in the Congo in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainability, and the Hyogo Declaration of 2002.
During their stay in Congo Brazzaville, the delegation met government members such as the Minister of the Ministry of Cooperation, Humanitarian Action, and Solidarity, the Director-General of the National Agency for Civil Aviation (ANAC) and the Director-Europe of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Additionally, they met with municipal representatives like the Mayor of Brazzaville, the Secretary General of the Municipality of Brazzaville and the head of the UNPD in Congo and the Vice-rector of the National University Marien NGOUABI.
Some of those events and meetings were covered by Congolese media and the delegation gave a press conference to the national TV channel “Tele Congo”. Moreover, the UNU-ViE/ UFS-DiMTEC representatives visited relevant areas like the national route no 1 and the Talangai, Mfilou, Makelekele and Bacongo urban districts.
Sustainable Solutions
The gathered information will be analyzed to give a clearer picture of the actual situation in Congo Brazzaville and to promote sustainable solutions for disaster management and prevention, economic growth and human vulnerability.
Some key-objectives have been set up such as adapting the South African legislation and framework to the Congolese state of law, fostering public awareness, and training a Congolese expert committee by enrolling in a Master’s degree programme on Disaster Risk Management offered by UFS-DiMTEC to acquire skills and knowledge in an intra- and multi-disciplinary two-year course to understand and manage disasters and their consequences.
Outcomes
In the course of the mission, new meetings and related activities have been planned. A workshop is foreseen in October/November 2009 to present, discuss and train the Congolese project team in formulating and adapting a disaster management legislation and legal framework. Moreover, the project team is planning to attend a conference on prevention and disaster risk management policies which will take place in South Africa in September 2009.
In addition, the team envisages attending an annual conference on disaster risk reduction organised by DMISA on 7 to 8 October 2009.The annual conference of the Institute DMISA is the biggest disaster management conference in Africa, and routinely attracts more than 350 delegates. The institute is recognised as the mouthpiece of the Disaster Management profession in Southern Africa and is accredited by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) as well as the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR).The conference provides an annual opportunity for a diverse range of stakeholders in disaster risk management from across Africa to gather and share skills, knowledge and experience.
Background Information
In November 2008, two of the Congo Brazzaville experts had attended a custom-made three week training on Risk Management at UNU-EHS in Bonn, Germany. The training was given by the then Head of Risk Management, Dr. Juan Carlos Villagran de Leon.
The experts visited various German Risk Management centres and institutes. Following the success of this mission, and as a joint UNU-ViE/UFS-DiMTEC initiative, three interdisciplinary experts from Congo Brazzaville were dispatched to South Africa in June 2009 to attend training courses on Disaster Risk Reduction and Vulnerability and to visit several South African disaster management infrastructures.